China News Service, Beijing, October 21 (Zhang Naiyue) On September 6, the new British Prime Minister Truss, who delivered his inaugural speech outside 10 Downing Street in London, was full of confidence and promised to lead the UK through the "storm" and rebuild the economy.

But just over a month later, at the same location, Truss announced his resignation and will leave office sadly.

The British third female prime minister, who was hailed as the "new iron lady" by the outside world, only took office for 45 days and became the British prime minister with the shortest term.

Data map: Tras.

After only 45 days in office, Truss announced his resignation

　　On October 20, local time, British Prime Minister Truss announced her resignation in a speech in Downing Street, saying that in view of the current situation, she could not perform her duties when she was elected.

　　In her speech, Truss said she took office "at a time of great economic and international instability."

Britain has been dragged down by low economic growth for too long, and her party elected her to "change that".

　　She said her government had delivered on the energy bill and cuts to National Insurance, and set a vision for a "low tax, high growth economy".

But she added: "I admit ... I am not able to carry out the Conservative Party's role in electing me under these circumstances."

　　After Truss announced his resignation, Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, a conservative group of MPs in the lower house of parliament, said he hoped to see the results of the new prime minister by next Friday (October 28).

　　On September 6, Truss officially took office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

At the time, Queen Elizabeth II chose to meet the new prime minister at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, rather than at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle, as is traditional.

On September 6, 2022, in Scotland, England, British Prime Minister Truss met with Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

Image source: Visual China

Delivered on promises, spooked the market

　　After occupying 10 Downing Street, Truss immediately gave a promise to "change Britain", proposing three "priorities" to cut taxes, deal with the energy crisis and overhaul the NHS.

　　Later, she announced the government's emergency energy plan in parliament, which plans to control the average household gas and electricity bills to 2,500 pounds a year.

At the end of September, the Truss government announced a series of policies, including large-scale tax cuts, abolition of bank bonus caps, energy subsidies and oil and gas exploration, hoping to boost the British economy that is about to fall into recession.

　　Truss seems to have fulfilled his promise, but these "bold" policies have attracted a lot of doubts from the outside world, market confidence has plummeted, and the exchange rate of the pound against the dollar once fell to a record low.

　　Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has come out in criticism, saying such "unbridled" tax cuts could increase inequality, undermine monetary policy and fuel global inflation.

　　U.S. President Joe Biden has also publicly stated that Truss' economic plan is "a mistake" and that he is "not the only one" who thinks so.

　　Against the backdrop of the Fed's tough interest rate hikes, the turbulent situation in Russia and Ukraine, and the new crown epidemic, the Bank of England adopted an aggressive monetary tightening policy (interest rate hikes), while the British government launched an aggressive fiscal expansion policy (tax cuts)," The struggle between left and right" has made the already difficult British economy even worse.

On October 14, 2022, local time, in London, England, former Chancellor of the Exchequer Quasi Kwarten got off the car in Downing Street.

'Missed', Truss triggers resignation crisis

　　The dissatisfaction with economic policies that led to the decline in approval ratings has been staged in previous Johnson administrations, but Truss has not been able to escape the same predicament.

　　In order to ease the financial turmoil and external criticism caused by the "mini-budget", Truss asked his finance minister Kwarten to resign and replace the former foreign minister Hunter, who had supported his opponent Sunak, to reverse almost all tax cuts. .

　　However, Sky News pointed out that after Truss overturned the previous policy and changed the original Chancellor of the Exchequer, "there is no more firewall between the Prime Minister and her angry parliamentary party".

　　Opinion polls give attitudes in a more blunt way.

Data regularly released by YouGov shows that after the introduction of the Truss New Deal on September 27, the British ruling Conservative Party’s support rate fell behind the opposition Labour Party by 17 percentage points; by September 30, the Labour Party led the Conservative Party by 33 percentage points. the largest gap since the 1990s.

　　The approval rating dropped again and again, and Truss finally triggered the crisis of resignation.

Why is British politics so turbulent?

　　The crisis that Truss encountered was actually foreshadowed as early as this summer's election campaign.

　　Against the background of rising energy prices, the economic crisis, the aftermath of "Brexit", the strikes caused by the cost of living crisis, and the huge pressure on the medical system caused by the new crown epidemic, the British media predicted at the time, "The new Prime Minister (after Johnson) may face modern history. One of the shortest political honeymoons".

Data map: A petrol station in the UK closed after running out of fuel.

　　Tras successfully won the election, but failed to successfully "take up" the challenge.

She is eager to fulfill her campaign slogans of "cut taxes" and "control energy prices."

These appealing ideas have led to some policies that are not well-founded, resulting in the repeated administration of the new government, which has not directly solved the problem, but also caused a crisis of public confidence in the government.

　　The emergence of this situation also reflects some of the problems existing in British politics.

Cui Hongjian, director of the European Institute of the China Institute of International Studies, believes that this shows that in the current British politics, "the so-called procedural democracy has replaced the ability of individual politicians".

　　At present, "the UK has entered a relatively populist environment. Ordinary people like to hear politicians pander to their views, and politicians in turn assume a posture of pandering to voters." Cui Hongjian analyzed that in this way, the continuity of the original policy And stability is thrown away.

　　The UK has had four prime ministers in the past six years since the start of the "Brexit" agenda.

These four "unconventional changes of prime ministers" also reflect a situation in which as long as the Conservative Party can continue to hold a majority in parliament, it can continue to govern through internal replacements.

　　Cui Hongjian said that on the surface, the votes supported the legitimacy of the Conservative Party's governance, but under the current situation of the Conservative Party's continuous internal turnover, British politics may be forming a "black hole" phenomenon, which is very unfavorable for the prospects of the United Kingdom itself.

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